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Empoli Football Club, commonly called Empoli is an Italian football club that is based within Empoli, Metropolitan City of Florence. It was founded in 1920. The Empoli Football Club is part of an elite set that includes Italian teams that are not affiliated to a provincial capital which have played in the top division.

Empoli has spent the majority of its existence in professional football. In Europe the most impressive result were achieved through part of the 2007-08 UEFA Cup.

1.1. From the 1920s to the 1970s

In the month of August 1920 Foot Ball Club Empoli and the football club Unione Sportiva Empoli were born. Following the participation in an event at San Miniato, the two were merged into one locally-based football team. In the following season the new club, after gaining membership in the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) approved with the Tuscan Regional Committee, was incorporated into group A in the Tuscan Promozione 1921-22. The team took part due to financial difficulties but decided to go to Terza Categoria's league. Terza Categoria. In that league, the team was second within the A group.

In the 1922-23 campaign, Empoli was second in the Group A in the Terza Categoria. They were admitted to the finals after having won the playoff in Florence that took place on the 15th of April 1923, against Pontedera 1-1. The season ended with 3rd place finish in the final of the group.

The subsequent three seasons, from 1923 until 1926 Empoli was still playing for the Tuscan third division. In 1926-27 period, Empoli took the title of Group A division in Tuscany and was then admitted into the finals of interregional competition because of a fourth position in Group G and a fourth place in Group G, the Tuscans were elevated to the North Division of the Second Division 1927-28, which was the third Italian football league in the time. The following season, Empoli was placed into Group C of the North Division, which concluded in fourth position however, due to financial reasons, the team were not invited to play in the next tournament of Prima Divisione. The team following the downgrading of the Seconda Divisione from third to fourth level. However, the following season, during the 1928-1929 Seconda Divisione, the club gained promotion, winning the Tuscan championship and then reverted into it's North Division of Prima Divisione.

Empoli was part of the Prima Divisione, later Serie C, until the 1935-36 season, in which Empoli's team was disbanded halfway into the season due to the call to arms of the players. Empoli began to compete again in the Prima Division the following season under the name OND Empoli, with the colors blue and gray. the team was crowned the Tuscan Group A, gaining the right to play in Serie C. Until the closure due to the effects of conflict, Empoli played in Serie C and achieved a top results of sixth place in 1938-39. In the meantime, the club was changed to OND Interaziendale Italo Gambaccioni Section Soccer between 1938 and 1941, and then it changed its name in the year 1941 to Associazione Calcio Empol. On the 15th of September, 1935 Empoli made its debut in the Coppa Italia, winning 1-0 in a victory at home against Pontedera.

Following World War II, Empoli adopted the name of the club that was previously Empoli Foot Ball Club following having been named Sports Group Azelio Landi for only a short period of time, from October to November 1944 and then was accepted into Serie B thanks to a third-place finish during the 1946-45 season. For Serie B, Empoli played for four seasons consecutively which ended in third position in the 1946-47 campaign. Empoli was relegated that, at the time, had adopted the color blue took place at the end of the 1949-50's championship. The permanent status in Serie C lasted for six seasons. During August of 1955, they had to sell many of its players. Then, at the close of the 1955-56 season the Tuscan side was sent into Serie D. After three seasons in the fourth division in 1959-60, the Azzurri could be relegated to regional league after finishing in 15th place, which was the same level as Carrarese, and Rieti. The club was able to avoid the relegation process, playing against Carrarese before beating Lazio and Lazio in Pesaro and scoring an unassisted goal by Vezzosi. In the 1960-61 season, Empoli returned to the third division in Italian football, however for just one season, and again suffered the fate of relegation.

The club was relegated back to Serie C on 9 June 1963, after having defeated Tempio 2 to 0 during the play-offs in Genoa. The club's status in the third division of Italian football, which was then referred to as Serie C1, lasted for twenty years up to in the season 1982-1983.

1.2. The 1980s and 1990s

The club was promoted to Serie A in 1986. small town club was elevated into Serie A. The club played their first home matches in Florence Empoli's Serie A debut resulted in the team winning 1-0 against Internazionale. Aided by a nine-point deduction from Udinese the team escaped relegation with 13 goals and 23 points in their 30 games. Empoli themselves were hit with an additional five points penalty in during the following season and were sent to the relegation zone in spite of a much improved performance. They were again relegated in 1989 to Serie C1 in 1989.

The club then played a few season with Serie C1 before returning to Serie B in 1996 and receiving a second consecutive advancement in the year 1997. In 1997, with Luciano Spalletti at the helm, Empoli defied the odds to finish 12th and stay out of being relegated. Relegation in the year following began the three-year period within Serie B, in which Empoli became famous for its exemplary young talent.

The promotion in Serie A in 2002 and 2005 have made the club appear as champions in the fight against being relegated. They finished the 2005-06 season in tenth position in the top flight. In the wake of the Serie A match-fixing scandal at the close of the season, they were able to qualify to play in the UEFA Cup in the next season, but were not able to participate in the competition as the management of the club had not applied for an UEFA license. In the 2006-07 season the club was once more was able to play in an appearance in the UEFA Cup.

1.3. The years 2000 and participation in the UEFA Cup

With the possibility of European football in the near future the team's management has bolstered the team, particularly by signing youngsters from big Serie A clubs, such as Rincon of Inter, Ignazio Abate and Lino Marzoratti from Milan along with Sebastian Giovinco, Claudio Marchisio and Rej Volpato from Juventus with co-ownership or loan agreements. Empoli began their journey with the UEFA Cup with a two-legged game against Zurich which they lost 4-2 in aggregate. The team's poor performance during the beginning of the season caused the chairman Fabrizio Corsi to fire Luigi Cagni, who led the Tuscans to UEFA Cup qualification, and replace him with Alberto Malesani The Empoli's fortunes were not to change, and Malesani was dismissed following the 2-0 loss to Sampdoria that left Empoli in the bottom half in the league. Cagni was appointed again on the 31st of March, 2008 but the team was hit with an untimely relegation. Cagni quit to be replaced Silvio Baldini before the season 2008/09. Baldini's stint, however was not effective since the Tuscans ended the season fifth in the league and then were beaten in the playoffs for promotion by Brescia.

1.4. Between Serie B and Serie A

Despite the modest performance, Baldini was sacked. In December 2011 the club went through four coaches during the 2009-10 season. Empoli kept its Serie B status dramatically in the 2011-12. After a disappointing campaign, Empoli finished 18th, just one point away from safety, which led to an relegation play-off with Vicenza in two games. The first match was without a goal, but Vicenza had a 2-0 lead in the second half after 30 minutes. But, two goals in just two minutes saw the Azzuri draw the game before Massimo Maccarone secured a 3-1 victory in the 4th minute of the injury time. In 2012-13, the team finished fourth in the league, which was a significant improvement from the previous year, however they was unable to win the play-off for promotion in the final to Livorno in two games. Empoli were promoted into Serie A the following season and finished runners-up to Palermo and remaining in the top division for two seasons and finished 15th in 2014-15 and then 10th in 2015-16. As the final matchday for the season 2016-17 Serie A season, Empoli had one point ahead of the relegation zone and ahead of Crotone However, they were removed into Serie B after they failed to beat Palermo and Crotone defeated Lazio. After the success of this season's 2017-18 Serie B, Empoli promptly was promoted into Serie A, after winning Serie B on 28 April 2018, with four games ahead of. The final day in the season 2018-19 Serie A season, Empoli were just one point ahead of the relegation zone and ahead of Genoa However, they were removed into Serie B after they were defeated by Internazionale as Genoa played against Fiorentina and both teams ended on the same amount of points, however Genoa had a higher goal differential of one. But, Empoli finished first in the 2020-21 Serie B season, to be the third time they have won the history of the competition.

2. Players

Detail of the players as below mentioned.

2.1. Current squad

From 1 September 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Italy ITA Samuele Perisan
3 DF New Zealand NZL Liberato Cacace
4 DF Poland POL Sebastian Walukiewicz (on loan from Cagliari)
5 MF Italy ITA Alberto Grassi (on loan from Parma)
6 DF Belgium BEL Koni De Winter (on loan from Juventus)
7 FW Netherlands NED Sam Lammers (on loan from Atalanta)
8 MF Scotland SCO Liam Henderson
9 FW Uruguay URU Martín Satriano (on loan from Inter Milan)
10 MF Albania ALB Nedim Bajrami
11 MF Ivory Coast CIV Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro (on loan from Lazio)
13 GK Italy ITA Guglielmo Vicario
14 FW Croatia CRO Marko Pjaca (on loan from Juventus)
17 FW Sweden SWE Emmanuel Ekong
18 MF Romania ROU Răzvan Marin (on loan from Cagliari)
20 MF Italy ITA Duccio Degli Innocenti
21 MF Italy ITA Jacopo Fazzini
22 GK Kosovo KOS Samir Ujkani
23 FW Italy ITA Mattia Destro
24 DF Italy ITA Tyronne Ebuehi
25 MF Italy ITA Filippo Bandinelli (captain)
26 DF Italy ITA Lorenzo Tonelli
28 FW Italy ITA Nicolò Cambiaghi (on loan from Atalanta)
30 DF Slovenia SVN Petar Stojanović
31 GK Italy ITA Gian Marco Fantoni
32 MF Switzerland  SUI Nicolas Haas
33 DF Italy ITA Sebastiano Luperto (on loan from Napoli)
34 DF Albania ALB Ardian Ismajli
35 DF Italy ITA Tommaso Baldanzi
40 GK Slovenia SVN Lovro Stubljar
65 DF Italy ITA Fabiano Parisi

 

2.2. Other players under contract

From 1 September 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF ITA Andrea Adamoli
DF  ITA Matteo Martini

2.3. Out on loan

Beginning the 1st September, 2022

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK Italy ITA Niccolò Chiorra (at Mantova until 30 June 2023)
GK Italy ITA Gabriele Meli (at Apollon Larissa until 30 June 2023)
DF Italy ITA Simone Canestrelli (at Pisa until 30 June 2023)
DF Italy ITA Francesco Donati (at Ascoli until 30 June 2023)
DF Italy ITA Leonardo Pezzola (at Piacenza until 30 June 2023)
MF Albania ALB Kristjan Asllani (at Inter Milan until 30 June 2023)
MF Italy ITA Luca Belardinelli (at Sudtirol until 30 June 2023)
MF Italy ITA Giovanni Crociata (at Sudtirol until 30 June 2023)
MF Italy ITA Tommaso Fantacci (at Pontedera until 30 June 2023)
MF Slovenia SVN Leo Štulac (at Palermo until 30 June 2023)
FW Italy ITA Andrea La Mantia (at SPAL until 30 June 2023)
FW Italy ITA Davide Merola (at Cosenza until 30 June 2023)

2.4. Primavera

Empoli F.C. Youth Sector (Italian Settore Giovanile) is comprised of the under-19 squad as well as the academy of the Italian professional soccer club Empoli F.C. The under-19 team plays at Campionato Primavera 1, and has won the title in 1998-99 as well as 2020-21.

3. Coaching staff

Position Name
Head Coach Italy Paolo Zanetti
Assistant Coach Italy TBA
Assistant Coach Italy TBA
Goalkeeper Coach Italy TBA
Fitness Coach Italy TBA
Physiotherapist Italy TBA
Physiotherapist Italy TBA
Physiotherapist Italy TBA
Chief Doctor Italy TBA
Club Doctor Italy TBA
Video Analyst Italy TBA

4. Notable former players

International caps for players or appearances at Olympic Games or 100 league appearances with Empoli.

  • Australia Mark Bresciano
  • Italy Massimo Maccarone
  • Australia Vince Grella
  • Italy Claudio Marchisio
  • Brazil Emílson Cribari
  • Italy Vincenzo Montella
  • Chile Jorge Vargas
  • Italy Andrea Raggi
  • Croatia Igor Budan
  • Italy Tommaso Rocchi
  • Italy Ignazio Abate
  • Italy Luca Saudati
  • Italy Daniele Adani
  • Italy Luciano Spalletti
  • Italy Marco Borriello
  • Italy Francesco Tavano
  • Italy Raoul Bortoletto
  • Italy Luca Toni
  • Italy Luca Bucci
  • Italy Ighli Vannucchi
  • Italy Antonio Buscè
  • Poland Piotr ZieliÅ„ski
  • Italy Andrea Coda
  • Italy Dario Dainelli (youth)
  • Slovenia Zlatko Dedić
  • Italy Antonio Di Natale
  • Sweden Johnny Ekström
  • Italy Éder

5. Former managers

  • Italy Antonio Vojak (1937–39)
  • Italy Luigi Cagni (2006–07)
  • Italy Enrico Colombari (1939–40)
  • Italy Alberto Malesani (2007–08)
  • Italy Sergio Cervato (1968–70)
  • Italy Luigi Cagni (2008)
  • Italy Sergio Castelletti (1971–72)
  • Italy Silvio Baldini (2008–09)
  • Italy Renzo Ulivieri (1972–76)
  • Italy Salvatore Campilongo (2009–10)
  • Italy Bruno Giorgi (1976–77)
  • Italy Alfredo Aglietti (2010–11)
  • Italy Vincenzo Guerini (1983–85)
  • Italy Giuseppe Pillon (2011)
  • Italy Luigi Simoni (1988–89)
  • Italy Guido Carboni (2011–12)
  • Italy Vincenzo Montefusco (1989–91)
  • Italy Alfredo Aglietti (2012)
  • Italy Francesco Guidolin (1991–92)
  • Italy Maurizio Sarri (2012–15)
  • Italy Adriano Lombardi (1993–94)
  • Italy Marco Giampaolo (2015–16)
  • Italy Luciano Spalletti (1995–98)
  • Italy Giovanni Martusciello (2016–2017)
  • Italy Luigi Delneri (1998)
  • Italy Vincenzo Vivarini (2017)
  • Italy Mauro Sandreani (1998–99)
  • Italy Aurelio Andreazzoli (2017–2018)
  • Italy Corrado Orrico (1998–99)
  • Italy Giuseppe Iachini (2018–2019)
  • Italy Elio Gustinetti (1999–00)
  • Italy Aurelio Andreazzoli (2019)
  • Italy Silvio Baldini (1999–03)
  • Italy Mario Somma (2004–06)
  • Italy Roberto Muzzi (2019–2020)

6. In Europe

As per detail below.

6.1. UEFA Cup

Season Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2007–08 First round Switzerland Zürich 2–1 0–3 2–4
 

7. Honours

Serie B

  • Winners: 2004–05, 2017–18, 2020–21

Serie C1

  • Winners: 1928–1929, 1982–1983

Coppa Italia Serie C

  • Winners: 1995–96

8. Divisional movements

Series Years Last Promotions Relegations
A 14 2021–22 - - 6 (1988, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2017, 2019)
B 22 2020–21 7 (1986, 1997, 2002, 2005, 2014, 2018, 2021) - 2 (1950, 1989)
C 47 1995–96 3 (1946, 1983, 1996) - 3 (1936, 1957, 1962)
  83 out of 90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929  
7 1962–63 3 (1937, 1961, 1963) Never

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